The Case of the Kuznetsov
by PizzaSteve3902
Summary: A discovery is made at a crime scene by Nick and Judy. This discovery links Nick's father to the USSR while he was in the army. Nicks sets out to clear his father's name, but some mammals don't want him to know the truth. Cover Image: Russian "Admiral Kuznetsov" aircraft cruiser. Rated T for violence.


**Author's Note:**

 **I'm just going to publish chapter 1 for now. Once it gets 10 favorites, I'll continue. I just want to see if people want to read this story. Enjoy!**

 ***= See The Rough Life of Nick Wilde for more details.**

 **.**

 _Prologue: November 10_ _th_ _, 1990, "Marine Corps 215th Birthday" at 3:00 p.m. – Somewhere north of the Arctic Circle:_

 _._

Major Wilde was cold.

Too cold. It had been cold since he got here. But it was the Arctic Circle—what would you expect? He was stationed as the commander of a research station in an undisclosed location. He only had seventeen more years of his contract, then he could go home for good. He wanted to see his wonderful kid, Nick, and his beautiful wife, Marie. He would think of them many times when he was homesick.

"Major?" came a voice, breaking Wilde out of his thoughts. Radar, the young bear who worked at the radio came in. He was a short bear, only two feet taller than Wilde. "A helicopter has just radioed in. they request to meet with you."

"Tell them I'll be there," Wilde said as he stood up, putting his thick overcoat on.

"Yes sir," Radar said, leaving the room.

Major Wilde was a fox of integrity and honesty, which is semi-rare in a fox. There is a reason the stereotype is untrustworthy, but Major Wilde is not the stereotype.

He walked out of his office in the station out into the cold. He shivered once the cold air hit his fur. _I'm too cold to do this. Couldn't they have radioed what they wanted?_ he thought. The wind whipped his fur around, and snow was blowing into his eyes. He put his hat on to try to keep at least a bit warmer. He walked over to the helipad and saw the helicopter off in the sky coming closer. After a few minutes, the helicopter landed, blowing snow everywhere. Wilde covered his face from the snow so it wouldn't get in his eyes.

The helicopter landed and the rotors slowed to a stop. Wilde stood straighter as he walked up to the door. Just as he reached the helicopter's side, the door slid open, and a wolf, about thirty five years old stepped out. He was much taller than Wilde, and he was wearing a Russian Captain uniform.

"Major Jeff Wilde of the Intelligence Division?" asked the wolf in a thick Russian accent.

"Affirmative. And who might you be?" Wilde asked.

"I am Captain Ivan Kuznetsov of the Russian Army."

"Why are you here, and how did you find our location?"

"I cannot tell you the answer to your second question, but I can answer your first question. I need your help."

"You need my help?" Wilde was getting confused. A Russian captain is asking for his help? The Cold War is still going on, for crying out loud!

"Yes. I feel the USSR is about to collapse. I want you to prolong this as long as possible."

Wilde was stunned. "I'm just a major. And a _fox_ no less! I can't do that."

"You come from Zootopia, no?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you are a fox. A city-fox is smart and slick. You can think of something. If you do prolong the collapse for at least one year, I will pay you handsomely. Five million dollars, in new, American bills."

That was a tenpting offer. His family was in dire need of money. "I'll have to think about it."

"Don't take too long. I have a submarine to find. I'll be back in one week. You better decide by then."

Captain Kuznetsov turned around and got back into his helicopter and flew away.

.

Wilde was sitting at his desk, torn inside. Does he do this and assist the Russians in prolonging their fall and get the money his family desperately needs, or does he stay true to his country and let his family stay poor? The whole internal conflict was making him sick.

Eventually, he made a decision.

.

 _Chapter 1: Present Day at 4:30 p.m. – Vulpine Springs Cemetery outside Zootopia:_

 _._

Nick Wilde stood staring at the single headstone his parents shared.

Jeff Wilde, 1950 – 2016, and Marie Wilde, 1951 – 2016.*

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," Nick said, bowing his head in sorrow. Nick got on his knees and laid the flowers he had gotten for his parents down.

"I know this is hard, Nick," Judy said, putting her paw on Nick's shoulder.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have answered the phone when Bogo told me not to."

"It's not your fault, Nick."

"Is it my fault I was terrified of the gang?"

"No…"

"Yes, it was. I am the one who led the gang to their house."

"Nick, stop saying that. Let's just stop arguing and respect your parents."

"You're right Carrots. Forgive me Mom and Dad. I got a little carried away with guilt."

.

"Alright, shut it!" yelled Bogo during briefing the next morning. "We have two items on the list for today. First of all, I want Officers Wilde and Hopps to take up the follow-up investigation to the Kuznetsov murder case. Second, we have the Major Crimes Bureau here with us. District Director Skye will fill you in on why."

Bogo stepped away from the podium, and Higgins put a chair behind the podium. An arctic fox vixen jumped up onto the chair so she could reach the podium.

"Thank you, Chief. I am Director Skye Winter of the MCB. Recently we have received info about a mammal who is blackmailing high officials. Whoever this guy is, he has help. We believe his right-paw man is dead, and we don't know who the other people are. This guy is also responsible for keeping the USSR from collapsing for an entire year. He is a dangerous political—if not psychological—criminal."

"I want officers Wolfard, Fangmayer, Delgato, and McHorn helping Director Winter on this case," Bogo said.

"I'll be outside the door if you need to talk to me," Director Winter said.

"Dismissed," Bogo said.

.

"Why do we always get boring assignments?" Nick wondered out loud as he rode in the cruiser while Judy drove.

"What? You think a follow-up investigation is boring?" Judy asked.

"We're only going to look through this guy's stuff! That's not fun."

"Nobody claimed his stuff, so yeah, we're going to look through it before the moving company takes it to the dump."

"I wanted to help uncover the mystery of the USSR."

"Maybe next time, Nick."

"Humph." Nick crossed his arms.

"You're acting like a child," Judy said.

"Maybe I am," Nick said indignantly.

.

Later, Judy pulled into the driveway of the Kuznetsov residence. The two got out of the cruiser and went into the house. It looked like any other house, just wolf sized. Nothing had been moved since the initial investigation.

"I'll start in the bedroom," Judy said.

"And I'll start in the study, I guess," Nick said.

The two started looking through drawers and putting everything into boxes.

.

After a few hours, Judy came into the study.

"Nick, I'm bored."

"You? Bored? Never."

"I mean it. There's nothing to do but put all the clothes into a box. That's boring."

"You can help me look through the filing cabinets."

"Oh, ok."

.

After a few more hours, Nick picked up the box with all the papers in it.

"Whoo! This is heavy!" Nick almost dropped the box onto the desk.

"Nick! Be careful!"

"Wait! There was a second thud. When I dropped the box, it thudded twice."

"You probably broke the desk!"

"Maybe, or I could have just discovered something." Nick got on his knees and reached under the desk directly below the box. "I found it!" Nick pulled it out. It was a rectangle-shaped thing covered in brown paper. Nick opened the paper, revealing a notebook.

"What is it?" Judy asked.

"It says: 'Ноутбук Ивана Кузнецова'," Nick said.

"What the heck does that mean?" Judy asked.

"How should I know? I don't read Russian," Nick said, flipping through a few pages.

"Is it all in Russian?" Judy asked, looking at the book.

"Yeah," Nick said, closing the book. "But the first date in it is May 12th, 1989. At least, I think it is."

"Let's take it back to the station and have Gene read it. He knows Russian," Judy suggested.

"Alright," Nick said, then he looked at his watch. "It's almost lunchtime. You wanna go get something?"

"Yes," Judy said.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I used Google Translate to translate the title on the book.**

 **Remember, once it gets 10 favorites, I'll continue it, so tell your friends to read and favorite if you want more.**


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